Day: September 8, 2009

This was another pattern from All People Quilt called Grab Bag. We were invited to a party on Sunday night. I whipped one up to bring to the guest of honor. I have wanted to test this pattern, so it seemed like a good opportunity.

I struggled a bit with some of the directions, especially the last few dealing with the handle finishing. Eventually I figured out what they were trying to tell me, but not without a fair amount of ripping. It was a good exercise in patience for me. I am sure companies like All People Quilt struggle with making the directions short AND easy to understand. For my part, I am glad for some of these free patterns.

I used an old large flower print for the outside and a Marimekko for the lining.

There are two major changes, and one minor change, that I would make on future Grab Bags:

1. I used regular batting like I use for quilts. I wouldn’t do that again. It makes it puffy, which is sort of cool, but I don’t like the fact that it doesn’t drape very well. I would like to try an interfacing to see how that drapes. I see experimentation with interfacing in my future. My other idea is to only put the batting on the bag part.
2. I would also make the inside just a bit smaller than the outside. The directions say to use the same pattern piece. It is fine (and much easier to write a pattern, I am guessing), but the bottom of the lining bunches up inside the bag. Not much, but enough to not look very professional.
3. The pockets are an odd size as well. I would make them a tiny bit larger, heightwise.

Above is a view of the inside. You can see a bit of the pockets and the Marimekko print.

I am pleased to have tried two new bag patterns. I think it  has allowed me to feel sufficiently successful and warmed up to try the Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote, I discussed in yesterday’s post.